The types of comments students make in an end-of-course evaluation were examined and compared with those identified in earlier studies on the ideal teacher. Congruent validity of such comments were documented with overall ratings of instructor/course quality as measured by fixed alternative items. (Author/GK)

Professors were interviewed to ascertain the evaluative information they collected about their professional activities. Student ratings were used by most faculty to evaluate their teaching. Almost all received peer reviews of research productivity. Qualitative evaluative information was seen as more credible than objective ratings when used for…

Faculty perceptions of simulated college student evaluative information collected by three methods were investigated: open-ended questions, group interviews, and objective questionnaire items. The objective items were from the Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) student rating questionnaires. Open-ended questions were: (1) comment on…

In a study at the University of Illinois, student written comments to four open-ended questions in end-of-semester student evaluations of 60 courses from ten different fields, taught by instructors of different ranks, were analyzed and classified into 22 categories. Nearly two-thirds were about the instructor, and one of four comments were on…